More than 30 new biodiesel plants were completed in 2005, and total annual production reached 75 million gallons. Capacity is projected to approach 250 million gallons this year, and demand is growing even faster than production.
”The biodiesel sector is where the ethanol industry was in 1980,” Joe Jobe, chief executive officer of the National Biodiesel Board, said February 6 during the opening session of the 2006 National Biodiesel Conference in San Diego CA. “We saw explosive growth over the past year, and there is more of that to come as long as we avoid the mistakes that were made by the ethanol producers. They had serious quality issues that resulted in massive failures. Customers lost confidence, and ethanol’s reputation still suffers today. You never get a second chance to do it right the first time.”
With more attention turning to alternative fuels, the future looks good for biodiesel producers as long as they can deliver a high-quality product, according to Jobe. Biodiesel could play a big role in helping the United States cut oil imports 75 percent by 2025, the goal set by President George W Bush in his State of the Union address in January.